NEWS: Coverage of the announcement of our first ten partners

PR Week: Gavin Devine’s Park Street agency signs up 10 partners

Park Street Partners, the new agency founded by former Newgate and MHP chief Gavin Devine, has announced a partnership scheme that has seen 10 senior figures from PR, marketing, politics, and business act as client advisers.

The 10 are not directly employed by or own equity in the agency, but agree to work on specific briefs when required. They are:

Sir Brian Bender, former Permanent Secretary in Defra and the Business Department
Alison Clarke, former CEO of Grayling UK & Ireland
Daniel Moylan, former deputy chairman of Transport for London
Design expert Emma Sexton
Investor and former Edelman and MHP adviser Eamonn Carey
Marketing consultant Oliver Devine, formerly of Marston’s, Compass, Mitchells & Butlers and Simple
Craig Harrow, former vice president of the Liberal Democrats and senior public affairs advisor
Kate McDougle, marketing director and consultant
John Williams, marketing and PR consultant
Ed Wilson, former director of external relations at Network Rail

Devine said: “It is fantastic to be able to announce today the next stage of Park Street Partners’ development, by unveiling this brilliant line up of experts and friends. Over many years of running comms firms I have learned that teams should be built around clients, not around agency structures; and that clients value above all senior people who add real value. That is what our network of experts delivers.”

Devine, who founded Park Street in March after leaving his dual role at Newgate and its parent company Porta, said the business has eight clients at present. These include dairy products company Arla Foods, and CGN, the Chinese energy firm that has invested in UK nuclear power station Hinkley Point.

Devine worked at MHP and its forerunner Mandate for 12 years before joining Porta in 2016.

https://www.prweek.com/article/1463756/gavin-devines-park-street-agency-signs-10-partners

Holmes Report: Gavin Devine’s Park Street Partners Appoints 10 Senior Advisors

Associates at ex-Newgate lead Devine’s new agency include senior figures from politics and marketing.

The associates feature senior figures from politics and the civil service as well as experts in brand positioning, digital, content creation and corporate comms, including Sir Brian Bender, a former permanent secretary in two UK Government departments, former Edelman and MHP advisor and digital strategist Eamonn Carey, and Alison Clarke, former CEO of Weber Shandwick Asia Pacific and Grayling UK & Ireland.

Devine said his new partners do not hold equity in the company, but are independent experts who would come together as required to meet the communications and business needs of clients across disciplines and, eventually, across geographies.

He told the Holmes Report: “Most agencies are set up with lots of people at AD level, but ultimately clients don’t value that because they have those kinds of skills in-house. They value juniors and they like senior advice. So I’ve put together a group of experienced people who I really rate and have known for years, who will add real value, from Eamonn, who runs an incubator programme and can really talk about tech and start-ups, to Brian, who knows how to engage government because he was in it for years at a senior level, and Alison, who offers senior mentoring.”

The agency already has eight clients after two months in business, including nuclear energy company CGN UK and Arla Foods.

The new Park Street Partners also include ex-Network Rail director of external relations Ed Wilson; former deputy chairman of Transport for London Daniel Moylan; design and branding consultant Emma Sexton; digital marketing consultant John Williams; former Marston’s Brewery senior marketer Oliver Devine; ex-Kantar head of global marketing Kate McDougle; and public affairs advisor Craig Harrow, former vice president of the Liberal Democrats.